


jewellery is a little too forward

by Lulu_The_Real_Slytherpuff



Series: Writing Prompts [2]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Dumb Hockey Boys, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, Pining, Secret Santa, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 15:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17428187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lulu_The_Real_Slytherpuff/pseuds/Lulu_The_Real_Slytherpuff
Summary: What do you get the person you've accidently fallen in love with for Christmas?





	jewellery is a little too forward

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eafay70](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/gifts).



> This took so long for me to write and I sincerely apologise for that!
> 
> Thank you so much Eafay70 for the prompt and I really hope I've done it justice (I may have slighly deviated from the original prompt a little bit).
> 
> No warnings for this one which might be a first! 
> 
> Here's the original prompt: Mitch and Auston get each other for Secret Santa and have to keep it secret for weeks. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

_Mitch._

 

The name stares back at Auston from where it's scribbled in black ink on the ripped up lined paper in his hand. He lets out a sigh and leans back in his stall. Of course it had to be fuckin' Mitch.

 

Mitch who lets outa _whoop_ accompanied by a  wide grin as he pulls his Secret Santa out of the helmet that Mo's been shoving into everyone's faces. Guess he's got John then. Mitch who catches Auston's gaze and sends him a smile that seems like it's just reserved for him.

 

"I'm gonna fucking win this years Secret Santa," Mitch all but yells out across the room, winking at Auston as the room explodes with equally loud  groans of "get fucked" and "fuck off Mouse."

 

Auston looks back down at the name in his hand once more, and to the boy whose face the name belongs to. What do you get the person you've accidently fallen in love with for Christmas?

 

Fuck knows.

 

***

 

A case of beer is too cheap and too obvious.

A gift card is lame.

Auston's shit at video games and Mitch has played every one of them under the sun.

Jewellery is a little too forward and well, that's as far as Auston's got as far as potential gifts go.

 

The point is that Mitch is difficult to buy for which is saying something because Auston knows that Mitch will love whatever he gets him. Because Mitch is like that; friendly and accepting. And it's goddamn infuriating. Still, Auston scrolls through the likes of Amazon and other shitty online stores for something that screams out _Mitch_ to him.

 

By the time Mitch has rolled up outside his house to pick Auston up for Monday morning practice, Auston has still yet to buy a gift for Mitch. He's pushing it with the deadline though, like really pushing it. They're doing the Secret Santa tomorrow for Christ's sake!

 

Mitch grins widely at him as he settles into the black leather seats of Mitch's car.

 

"Mornin' Aus," he says, handing him his usual black coffee.

 

"Hey Mitchy."

 

The journey is quiet this morning, only the echo of the radio playing softly through the speakers takes up the sound. It's like this most mornings with Mitch, contrary to what most of the team believe. The quiet peace and the occasional slurp as one of them sips their coffee or the steady munch of Mitch and his skittles is relaxing and comforting at this point.

 

"Any luck with finding your Secret Santa gift yet?" Auston asks, breaking the comfortable silence.

 

Mitch nods excitedly and laughs. "Yeah man, I went out and bought it straight after we finished practice when Mo handed the names out."

 

Something in Auston breaks a little bit - John was going to be very pleased tomorrow then if Mitchy's excitement was anything to go by.

 

"Guess whoever it is is gonna be a lucky fella then, eh?"

 

"He sure is, I can't wait to give it to him," Mitch says as he finally pulls up to the rink.

 

***

 

Mitch smiles so wide that the sun cannot compare to the sheer brightness of it. And it's directed at John Fucking Tavares. He winks at John after a clean pass and one heck of a wrist shot on Freddie. He claps him on the back multiple times throughout training and then he has the audacity to ruffle John's hair in the locker room.

 

It's all _John-this_ and _John-that_ the entire journey home and Auston does his best to hide the way his chest constricts with a fiery weight with every word that slips out of Mitch's mouth. He nods and laughs when Mitch pauses  for a second, smiles when Mitch looks over and then when they finally pull up in front of Auston's house, he smiles so fucking wide that his face hurts and waves Mitch goodbye without asking him to come inside for a beer and a game of chel.

 

By the time his head hits the pillow that night, he has an army of beer bottles guarding his bed and an empty bag of chips crumpled up on the floor.

 

He'll regret the drinking in the morning when he wakes up to a hammer slamming into his head repeatedly that turns out to be Mitch just banging on his door.

 

***

 

Black coffee.

Silence.

Music hums softly in the background.

 

Mitch has no skittles with him this morning. Still, he's almost vibrating in his seat, body glowing with a nervous energy that radiates off him fiercely.

 

"What's got you all worked up today?" Auston asks when Mitch's nervous energy becomes too much.

 

Mitch lets out a sigh and a nervous giggle. "Secret Santa!"

 

Secr-oh.

 

Oh _fuck_.

 

"Oh yeah, Secret Santa." Fuck.

 

***

 

There's an empty laundry basket for the team to deposit their gifts in before they enter the locker room and Auston has exactly eight minutes to find Mitch a gift. Mitch drops a badly wrapped small box into the basket and while he's distracted with greeting Mo, Auston takes the opportunity to skulk off in search of  a place where he can find Mitch a gift.

 

There's no gift shop at the practice rink and he doesn't have enough time to run across the road and find something in one of the shops over there. Besides, it's too early for them to even be open anyway. He paces back and forth in the hallway, muttering under his breath before pulling his wallet out.

 

$3.60.

 

You'd think for a fucking professional athlete who's rich he would carry around more than $3.60 in his wallet but then again he's Auston and he's a fucking dumbass apparently.

 

He goes back to pacing again, sure that his feet are marking the floor from where he's dragged them across it. He checks his watch. Three minutes before he has to be back in the locker room.

 

Fuck.

 

What do you buy for someone who you've accidently fallen in love with when you've only got two minutes to get it and $3.60 to spend?

 

Auston groans and slams his fist against the big machine next to him. It rattles with the weight behind his shove and something red catches his eye.

 

It'll have to do.

 

***

 

"Ho ho ho motherfuckers it's present time!" Mo's got a bright red Santa hat on and a dollar store beard on, he's got the laundry basket full of presents next to him and he starts pulling the presents out one by one.

 

"Ho ho ho Kadri, one for you, you asshole," he laughs while passing Kadri a perfectly wrapped rectangular box.

 

"Fuck you Mo," Kadri says, smiling as he takes the present and rips into it. It turns out to be an emergency tool kit from Gards.

 

"Gards, here's yours you old fuck, I'll be surprised if it isn't a lump of coal ya naughty boy," Mo says, winking at Gards as he chucks a pre-wrapped gift that's clearly from Walmart.

 

"Ah, I always wanted a bath set you shithead," he says, laughing as he pulls Travis into a headlock.

 

As they move through the presents the laughter and hilarity grows louder as Willy is presented with a dick shaped straw from Kappy and Hymie is gifted one of his own books from Brownie.

 

Finally there's just three of them left. John, Mitch and Auston.

 

John get his present first and it's not the box that Mitch put into the basket. Instead it's a salt and pepper set from Mo.

 

Which means Mitch is Auston's Secret Santa.

 

"And we're down to out last two names on the naughty list, Merry Christmas Dickheads," Mo says as he hands them both their presents.

 

Auston hadn't had time to wrap up Mitch's present and he can't help his heart from thumping as Mitch grabs the red pack of Skittles from Mo's hand. He can't bring himself to watch Mitch's reaction so he resigns himself to opening the badly wrapped box from Mitch.  The box is difficult to open at first, too much tape holding the wrapping paper together. He finally gets a finger through the wrapping paper and the box slides out with ease.

 

Canada Mints.

Spearmint flavour.

Auston's favourite.

 

His breath catches in his throat and he looks up to see Mitch grinning widely, all of his brightness directed at Auston this time.

 

"Merry Christmas Auston," Mitch says from across the room, eyes shining brightly as he holds the Skittles up triumphantly.

 

"Merry Christmas Mitchy."

 

 

***

 

The first thing that Auston realises is that Mitch tastes like the sugary sweetness of Skittles. The flavour engulfs his mouth and slides down his throat with sugary warmth. The second thing he realises is that Mitch is laughing into his mouth.

 

"What?" Auston pulls back, unable to hold back a smile at Mitch's soft giggles.

 

"I can't believe you thought I had a thing for John and that you bought my gift quite literally on the last minute," he says, pressing a kiss to Auston's forehead.

 

"I can't believe you bought me fucking mints."

 

"I had to make sure your breath smelt nice before our first kiss."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed :)
> 
> Constructive criticism is always welcome and much appreciated or a kudos is welcome too :)
> 
> Got any other prompts? Send them through to my tumblr account @hit-em-with-the-fourr :)


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